Monday, June 10, 2013

Militants yesterday executed a fifteen year old boy in an incident which is likely to further alienate Aleppo’s population from an occupying Islamist insurgents.

Syria and Aleppo-based social media pages were abuzz with shock and condemnation as details emerged of a young coffee seller who was shot in front of family members and onlookers.

Extremely graphic images of the executed boy are spreading through social media platforms.

Mohammad Kattaa had been shot through his mouth. Reports suggest Kataa was in an argument with another boy over free coffee, with Kataa saying “even if Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) comes down, I will not give it as debt.

Mohammad used to sell coffee in Sad al-Louz area in the al-Shaar district.

He was later said to have been detained by an extremist group in the area, beaten and then shot when his mother and father had been found so that they could be forced to witness the execution.

Later reports suggested that the group that is said to have carried out the killing had links to a number of al-Qaeda groups fighting the Syrian government.

Public executions are common in areas where al-Qaeda aligned groups occupy. Fear and poverty are rife as areas are cut off from other communities due to the worsened security situation which results following the presence of militant groups.

Armed groups have taken advantage of the security vacuum in Aleppo and other locations to commit rights abuses.

Recently, armed organisations in Aleppo including the Free Syrian Army, announced a merger with Jabhat al-Nusra.